Refuse
by thessia
Summary: What if there had been a fourth option?


**Author's note: As you'll probably be able to tell, the endings made no sense to me at all and I was always baffled as to why Shepard was so willing to accept Starkid's crappy logic. So this was born out of pure frustration and depression. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. Bioware does. **

* * *

Destroy, control, or synthesis. It had all come down to those three options. Shepard stared at the machine in front of her as her mind reeled, attempting to make sense of the information presented to her in past few minutes.

_Destroy, control, or synthesis._

The choice should not have been hard, but something made her stop and think.

_Destroy, control or synthesis._

Something wasn't right.

_Destroy._

_Control._

_Synthesis. _

"No."

The Catalyst looked confused at Shepard's answer. "What?"

Shepard raised her head to look at the child, her eyes steely. "No. I'm not picking any of your options. There has to be another solution that doesn't involve the annihilation of all synthetic life or the destruction the very thing that allows the galactic civilisation to function. There has to be another way."

The child sighed, moving closer to Shepard and looking up. "I have already considered every other possible solution, but none exist. Look how far you've come. If you do not choose, the galaxy will fall and everything that you have worked so hard for will have been for nothing."

"No!' Shepard exclaimed, "You say that the synthetic life will always end up destroying organic life, but we don't know that for certain."

"The war spanning three hundred years between the Quarians and the Geth is enough to disprove your argument," the Catalyst countered. Shepard's finger twitched, tightening slightly over the trigger of her pistol. She knew it would have no effect, but she wanted to shoot it so badly.

"The Geth were only protecting themselves. Once the Reaper was dead and they became true AIs, they offered the choice of a peaceful co-existence. Look out there now," she said, flinging her arm towards the battle raging outside. "Both species are out there, fighting alongside each other for the same thing. The Quarians have their home world back and the Geth have true individuality because they were able to compromise. They're rebuilding Rannoch together and the Geth are even helping the Quarians strengthen their immune systems!"

"The Geth rebelled against their creators once before. What is to say that they won't turn on them again?" the Catalyst rebutted.

Shepard shook her head. "They only turned on them in order to save themselves. The Geth had the chance to kill the Quarians three hundred years ago when they were first driven out, but they didn't. And who's to say that it _will_ happen again? You can't decide for them whether or not the peace will last. You can't deny them the chance to try."

"There is no-" the Catalyst began to counter Shepard's argument, but she cut it off vehemently.

"If that is still not enough for you, look at my ship. There is an unshackled AI working with a ship full of organics. She had so many chances to kill us and so many methods to do it but has shown nothing but the utmost loyalty to the crew and even fell in love with an organic. Unity is possible."

The Catalyst remained silent and Shepard used this silence to press on, kneeling so she was the same height as the child.

"Deciding our fate for us is no better than the rebellion that you claim will happen. You created synthetics that wipe out all organic life within the galaxy in order to stop them from creating synthetics that would eventually destroy organics. What kind of circular fucking logic is that? How are the Reapers meant to create order? Their very concept is doing what you claim to be preventing!" she spat as her grip on her annoyance and frustration loosened for a second. The child bristled, its interface glitching for a moment and Shepard sighed, taking a breath to calm down before she forged on.

"I won't choose any of your solutions, because it is our imperfections and diversity that can give us order," she explained, "Both synthetics and organics need to learn from each other and help each other overcome their weaknesses. Stop the Reapers, and every species in the galaxy can decide our fates together. Together, we can ensure that this sort of chaos won't happen again."

The Catalyst was silent. She could tell that it was considering the argument that she had presented and was looking for a way to counter it. It studied her for a long time, its gaze darting back and forth between Shepard's pleading expression and the machine whirring away in the background. After what seemed like an eternity, the child sighed and turned to face the battle raging outside.

"You have given me a new perspective…variables that I did not foresee. I understand your logic, and I see how mine is flawed." The Catalyst took a few steps forward. "I have been wrong all these millennia…"

"But you can do the right thing now", Shepard pleaded, "Stop them, and I promise you that the rebellion that you thought would happen never will."

The Catalyst remained silent. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he turned to face Shepard. "Shutting myself down will also shut down the Reapers' primary functions and greatly reduce their firepower. Your galactic force should have a significantly easier time destroying them."

Shepard let out a loud sigh of relief and a small smile touched her lips. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

The Catalyst strode up to Shepard and looked her straight in the eye. "Shepard, this is your responsibility now. You must ensure that the galaxy remembers this and learns from it. You must make sure that this unity that you speak of comes to pass."

The Commander nodded. "I worked too hard for peace to let anyone forget about it."

The Catalyst seemed satisfied with her answer. "The conduit that you used to get here is operates both ways. Use the lift to get back to the level below and from there, you will have three minutes to leave."

Shepard struggled to her feet. "What will happen to the Citadel? Will it be destroyed?"

"The destruction should be contained to only this part." The Catalyst strode up the path towards the bright green synthesis beam and turned when it reached halfway. "Goodbye, Shepard. Remember your promise."

Shepard nodded and the floor beneath her feet began to shift and move down, stumbling slightly as the lift reached the floor below. She glanced once at the prone bodies of the Illusive Man and Anderson but didn't stop. At the rate she was moving, she wasn't going to make it back to the beam in time if she took Anderson's body with her. She staggered to the beam and fell through it, instantly being hurtled downwards and slamming into broken concrete.

* * *

Ashley barely suppressed a groan when she felt the fragments of her broken leg shift within the confines of her armour. Swiping at the open wound above her eyebrow that was trickling blood into her field her vision, she refocused through the scope of her sniper rifle and pulled the trigger. The Marauder toppled to the ground and she painfully lowered herself back behind the barricade to reload. Next to her, Liara popped out of cover to deploy a singularity among a group of husks and watched as an asari commando detonated it violently.

"How's that shoulder feeling?" Ashley grunted, looking pointedly at Liara's recently healed shoulder and trying her hardest to ignore the pain of her broken leg.

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you," Liara panted, glancing down to look at the crudely constructed splint on the other woman's leg and then back up at the gash above her eye.

Ashley shook her head. "I've had worse. Save the remaining medigel for more serious things."

The sound of a Reaper horn blaring made them both flinch and peer over the barricades. A Destroyer was razing the ground in front of it as it moved slowly but steadily in their direction. Seeing this, an order to retreat was shouted and every soldier scrambled to obey it.

Ashley pushed herself partially off the ground with one hand but collapsed again, her eyes screwed shut in pain. Liara crouched, winding an arm around her waist and hauling her upwards. As they moved, Ashley chanced a look behind her to see the Destroyer's charging laser pointing straight at the building they were in.

"Crap," she muttered, hurrying their steps as much as she could while ignoring the screaming pain in her leg. The laser fired, obliterating the soldiers retreating from the building and Ashley muttered a quick prayer as the laser moved closer.

But it never came. Instead, the Reaper blared its horn again and turned to face up at the sky. Liara and Ashley both swivelled around to catch the Crucible coming to life.

"What the hell is that?"

* * *

A blinding white light was building at the tip of the Crucible, growing and growing until Shepard had to look away to avoid being blinded. The light stopped for a moment before exploding outwards in waves of pulsating luminescence that lit the entire battlefield. The Reapers screamed, their horns blaring and blurring together into a maelstrom of sound before the light consumed them and they faltered. The soldiers on the ground and in the sky took full advantage of the distraction to focus their fire. The screaming continued as the crippled Reapers were assaulted with the renewed firepower of the galactic fleet.

Led by the Normandy, three squadrons of Geth, Turian and Asari ships dodged and weaved through the wreckage above Earth with the clear intent of targeting the obviously severely compromised Harbinger. On command, every ship fired in unison and Harbinger screamed against the frontal assault that tore through its shields almost immediately. It faltered and tried to fire its devastating laser but all it did was flicker weakly before dying. The precious few seconds gave the ships time to aim directly at Harbinger's firing chamber. A volley of missiles flew directly into the chamber and impacted inside it body. Harbinger uttered one last screech before it exploded in a concussive wave of sound and blinding light.

Shepard struggled to her feet when Harbinger exploded, tearing it apart as pieces began to fall from the sky towards the ground on which she was standing.

"Shit," she cursed under her breath. She had no desire to be trapped under a dead Reaper again. Shepard began frantically hobbing away, the pain from her leg and burns screaming for her to stop. Ignoring their protests and the tears of pain stinging her eyes, she kept limping until her leg finally gave way. Crying out as she hit the ground again, she twisted her head up to the sky just in time to see a piece of Harbinger head straight for her.

* * *

"Everyone," Samantha said abruptly, "We seemed to have reached the general area where the signal origina…" she trailed off, her eyes widening as she took in the sight before her.

The whole company seemed to stop at once, looking around at the barren wasteland that had once been the centre of London and then at each other. The remains of a sovereign classed Reaper lay scattered everywhere. Samantha had managed to track a weak signal from Shepard's omnitool almost an hour ago and every able bodied squad member had insisted on coming along to help find her. After Ashley's brief struggle where she almost had to be sedated to prevent her from going, they had set out to trek through the rubble while Samantha did her best to maintain the tenuous link. The small flash of hope that came with the discovery of the signal had fuelled them this far but it flickered and died as they looked around at the desolate landscape. The group's unspoken but collective thought was almost audible; how could Shepard have survived this?

James broke the silence. "Well come on guys, we didn't come this far just to give up. And the Commander just saved all our asses. We owe her this."

That seemed to jolt everyone back to life, fumbling to turn on torches and pairing up to look for Shepard separately.

"Maintain radio contact, people. If Shepard is alive, we need to get her out of here as soon as possible," Garrus called to the retreating forms of the searchers. He turned to face Liara but found that she was already shifting rubble aside and calling frantically for her bondmate.

"Shepard! Can you hear us?"

* * *

_Pain._

That was all that registered in Shepard's mind as she struggled to regain consciousness. Coughing slightly, she grimaced when her chest flared up in protest and groaned. Her vision was unfocused and the acrid smell of pooling blood and burning metal permeated the air. The awkward angle in which she was lying made it hurt to draw breath so she gritted her teeth and rolled off the debris she was laying on, crying out in agony as her broken body hit the ground below and the concrete scraped against her raw burns. The sudden burst of pain and exertion had left her lightheaded and out of breath, so she closed her eyes and coughed as the smoke from the fires that dotted the landscape irritated her lungs.

Through her hazy ears, she heard people calling her name over and over again and almost sobbed with relief when she recognised EDI's distinctly robotic and Liara's desperate voice among them. She tried to respond to their call, but the pain in her chest flared up again and all that left her throat was a strangled, gasping cry. Shepard glanced around and spotted the dull handle of a pistol not far from where she lay.

She reached out to desperately claw at it and when the tips of her bloody fingers brushed the handle, she threw herself forward before lifting the gun into the air and firing three shots, waiting for a moment before firing three more. The lights abruptly swung in her direction and she heard the voices swiftly moving closer again, firing over and over again until her world faded to black.

* * *

The sound of three gunshots boomed through the air like a concussive shot, making everyone jump and turn their heads to the direction of the noise. The shots sounded again and Zaeed straightened up.

"That didn't sound like normal gunfire. It's a call for help," he remarked. Everyone froze for a moment before they all ran towards the sounds, frantically increasing their speed as the time between each gunshot grew longer until it eventually died away. Skidding to a halt, they began to biotically shift the large pieces of rubble. It took them several minutes to carefully clear away the rubble and when they finally shone their omnitools at the small space, everyone let out the same cry.

"Shepard!"


End file.
